Counter rack



Dec. 19, 1939. 's. BLOOMFIELD COUNTER RACK Filed July 9, 1938 Samuelfiloomfield Hrs ATTORNEY.

c viding a sort of forked upright construction, the A plurality of rookbars 18 o elat vely fiat 40 tending therefrom toward the correspondingto Provide end u ds. 4i

Patented Dec.l9,1939 I I Z,l8li,805

UNITED STATES E ATENT OFFFitCif.

COUNTER RACK Samuel Bloomfield, Chicago, 111.

Application July 9, 1938, Serial No. 218,438

3 Claims. (01. 40-11) This invention pertains to racks, a particularFig. 4 is a fragmentary side section ofv an upobject of the inventionbeing the provision of an right to reduced scale, illustrating thecard-re- ,improved counter rack for use on lunch counters, tainingarrangement. service fountains and the like, the rack being of Theinvention contemplates the provision of-a '5 simplified and relativelyinexpensive construction counter rack adapted to be mounted particularly5 and, at the same time, being rugged, of pleasing along the rear edgeportions of lunch counters appearance, and having certain features ofcond the e S0 that Service items, Such as u struction which providemeans for mounting tard jars, Su bowls and the like, y he 1 menu cardsand the like. tioned close to the rear edge of the counter with- LOViewed from another aspect, the invention proout danger of their beingdislodged therefrom, vides a counter rack having members securedmoreover, providing a suitable r p s t ry together by means similar torivets or the like, for menu Cards and the like the rivet formationsbeing cast integrally in cer- I t e e b d ent S own n Fig. 1, there aretain of the rack parts, the resulting construction mounted 011 the reelVertical edge p rt en Of a [6 being of improved appearance by virtue ofthe Counter iii, U-Sheped brackets Plates tO fact that the securingmeansor rivets are hidden Which are fitted h Offset i001; p on 2 of fromView 1 a pair of upright supporting members or bars Another object ofthe invention is the provil3, the offset base portions M of which reston sion of a counter rack including a pair of spaced the Surface 0f theCounter O10Se1y j nin the uprights each having lateral notches cuttherein, e r ed e e of d li t ng the descent of the 20 and a pluralityof collaterally extended bars seatuprights t t ei brackets.

ed in the notch formations in the uprights and Referring to Figs- 1 and2, the bars 0 up g s secured in the latter by integral stud or rivetfori3 e identical n Construction, the main or mations cast in theuprights and in the notches pp Portions (as distinguished from the feetand extended through holes in the bars, and |2)'beihg Provided With aplurality o tr nsverse thereafter peened over to secure the uprights andnotches in the channel portions o Wh ch a e bars in rigid relation.integral protuberances or studs 16, constituting Another object is theprovision of a counter rivet members, for attachment with the rack rackof the type characterized, in which each of bars Between the baseportion d e top of the uprights has an offset foot portion extendingeach of the m p s s a p otuberance or 30 in a direction collateral tothat of the uprights, nose ll which projects laterally from the sureachupright having a strap secured to its foot face in which notches areformed, the p portion so as to extend collaterally in spaced rees beingadapted to bear against str p lotion t t corresponding upright thuspromembers to retain menu cards in position.

uprights having notches formed on their inner form are seated in thealigned notches l5 in the surfaces opposite the straps, and transversebars h of uprights that h bars e end in subbeing seated in the notchesin the spaced u stantially parallel directions and some-of the bars it-, each upright having a protuberance [8 having their opposite endportions l9 curved strap, and the straps having a degree of yieldabil-It is important o o serve that the rack bars it so that a me c rd r thlik may h lid i i8 are secured in assembled relation with the upbetweenthe straps and the protuberances'of each rights by h v holes formed e nt u pair of uprights to be yieldingly and yet securely which the rivetformations l6 in the several upm intai d in position on th nt rightnotches extend when the bars are fitted 5 Other objects and novelaspects of the inveninto place, the head p o o the protubertion willappear as the following description proances or integral rivetformations thereafterbeceeds in view of the drawing, in which: ingpeenedover (Fig. 2 particularly) in the man- Fig. 1 is a frontperspective view of a preferred ner of a rivet nose to preventwithdrawal of the form of the rack; rack bars from their respectivenotches or seats. 50 Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section through one of Aparticular advantage gained from the forethe uprights, as seen alongline 2-2 of Fig. 1; going method of mounting the rack bars resides Fig.3 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the in the fact that the front sideof the uprights l3, upright structure, as viewed along line 3-3 of whichfaces the'patron at the counter, will not be Fig. 2; while defaced byexposure therein of screws, rivets or 55 other attaching means, theuprights being cast with this object in view, so that the notchformations 85 and the rivet formations 16, as well as the feet 12 andthe protuberances 17, may all be formed at one operation, thus achievingan additional advantage in the form of reduced manufacturing cost.

Means are provided for cooperation with the protuberances H for holdinga menu card in place on the rack, this means being in the form of astrap 28 mounted flush against the rearward surface of each of the feetl2 by means of integral rivet formations 2! projecting through holes inthe bottoms of the straps and peened over, as in the case of the memberit for attaching the rack bars. As a result of this arrangement, thestraps 28 extend in a direction collateral with the uprights l3 and theoffset feet l2, but are disposed in spaced parallel relation with themainor upper portions [3 of the uprights to provide a forked orbifurcated formaticn, with the straps 29 fitting closely against theouter rounded nose portions I? of the protuberances ill.

The upper end portions of the straps 29 in the region. of theprotuberances H are bent inwardly or biased so that they bear againstthe protuberances, and have a degree of inherent yielda ty particularlyin the region of their attachng means 2! so that they may be sprung awayfrom the nose portions H to permit the introduction and attachment ofthe menu card, the uprights ll being spaced apart a distance such thatthe usual length of card will fit into the holding means, that is,between the straps 20 and the protuberances ii in both uprights, asillustrated in Fig. i. By the provision of the end guard formations W,the counter rack forms a sort of cove into which various jars, bottles,and containers usually found on counters of the class described may becollected as close to the rear edge of the counter as possible withoutdanger of dislodgement, thereby improving the neat appearance of thecounter and providing for orderly arrangement of the counter serv iceitems within reach of the patrons.

t will be observed that the protuberances I! are c rved at their upperjunctures with the main portions of the upright, the curvature descending toward the nose portion I? from the upright and facilitating theguidance of a menu card quickly toward the nose portion for movementbetween the latter and the strap. I Similarly, in the region of thejuncture between the base portion and the foot 42 in each upright, thereis provided a downwardly curved portion '2? constituting a card-seatingmeans effective to guide the lower edge portion of the menu carddownwardly close against the strap 20 that the card will bear uniformlyagainst the strap in the regions between the base It and theprotuberance l7, and hence throughout the length of the strap. Thus, thecards are automatically guided into a proper upright position in theirrespective holding means.

, The advantages and objects of the invention may be accomplished byvarious modifications of the specific means described herein forpurposes of illustration, and it is to be understood that the inventionis not restricted to the precise form of the preferred embodimentdescribed, but is to be broadly interpreted as provided in the appendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a counter rack of the type including a pair of fork-shapeduprights arranged for mounting along the edge of a counter, and meansjoining said uprights, card holding means comprising the provision oneach of said uprights of a protuberance formed on the inner side of oneof the fork portions thereof, the other fork portion of each uprightbeing constructed to bear yieldingly against the correspondingprotuberance, whereby to provide card-retaining means, each of saidprotuberances having a downwardly curved portion directed toward theopposite fork portion of the corresponding upright to guide the loweredge portion of a card between said protuberance and said opposite forkportion, and each upright fur ther havinga downwardly curved portion inthe lower part thereof for guiding the lower edge of a card toward saidopposite corresponding fork portion.

2. In a counter rack, comprising a pair of upconstituting a card seatand adapted to guide the lower edge of a card toward said straps.

. 3. In a counter rack, comprising a pair of uprights, each having acollaterally extending strap secured to the lower portions thereof so asto extend in parallel spaced relation with the upper parts thereof, eachof said uprights having a. protuberance projecting laterally from thesurface thereof opposite said straps, said straps being biased to bearagainst the end portions of said protuberances, whereby to provide clipmeans for a menu card, each of said uprights having a downwardly curvedportion in its lower region constituting a card seat and adapted toguide the lower edge of a card toward said straps, and

eachof said protuberances having a downward ly curved portion leadingfrom the region of its juncture with the corresponding upright towardthe corresponding strap, whereby to guide the edge of a card toward theend portion of the protuberance for passage between the latter and thecorresponding strap.

SAMUEL BLOOMFIELD.

